Trent Luther, parks and recreation staff for Chesterfield County, briefed county officials on summer programming, facility projects and a consultant study of the Chesterfield Fairgrounds, emphasizing youth outreach and a slate of park renovations.

Luther said this year’s National Recreation and Parks Month theme is “build together, play together,” and described efforts to broaden summer-camp offerings and after-school connections with nearby schools. “We really are trying to use our resources to better serve that youth market within the community,” Luther said, noting camps at Beulah have added evening pickleball clinics and requests for continued coaching.

The presentation covered both programming and capital work. Luther reported the county’s current athletic-field inventory totals 254 fields: 140 baseball/softball diamonds and 114 rectangular fields. He said roughly two-thirds of the diamond fields the county uses sit on school property and that the department is beginning a condition assessment to prioritize upgrades and maximize return on investment.

Staff highlighted partnerships with the school system, the county’s sports visitation and entertainment team, and external groups such as Sportable, which Luther said will operate many active-adult and adaptive-sports programs under a planned performance arrangement. Luther said 60% of scheduled use at River City is local recreation and school use and noted Deep Creek Middle School will practice there this fall because its school field is not yet ready.

On events and attendance, Luther cited recent turnout figures: about 10,000 people attended last fall’s trunk-or-treat, Outdoor Fest drew roughly 3,000 attendees, and the county’s July 4 celebration had 7,700 people inside the fence and an overall attendance estimate of about 12,000. He said smaller community events—National Night Out, Juneteenth, backpack giveaways and tree-lightings—remain a priority, with Beulah and Ettrick events each drawing about 500 people.

Luther summarized a nine-month consultant study of the fairgrounds that included mailers and an online survey. He said the outreach yielded about 800 online responses and that respondents generally view the fairgrounds as important but underused. Traffic flow was identified as a limiting factor; the consultant’s draft recommendation aims to allow 80–85% of event parking to be contained on-site, which Luther said would effectively shift the largest feasible event sizes toward a 1,500–2,500-person range. Luther said the consultant team will return with recommendations and concept plans for county review in about 60 days.

On historic programming, Luther described expanded living-history events at Eppington, Henricus and Rockwood that drew several hundred attendees and noted the county is redefining the role of the Henricus foundation while exploring broader reuse of the Dutch Gap area as a multiuse, roughly 1,000-acre park with history, water access and trails. He said the road and bridge work related to Dutch Gap is led by the state agency CDOT and funded with dollars from a consent order tied to Dominion; construction bidding for that road project could clear in late summer or early fall.

Capital projects and maintenance updates included: a new playground and spray ground at Beulah set to open next Thursday and to be available for National Night Out; renovated concession and restroom work at Robius and Robius boardwalk/dock repairs after storm damage; Rockwood field renovations expected to wrap in October; Cogwheel Park scheduled to open in October; and River City park slated for spring–summer of next year. Luther also described a planned renovation at Warner Park with community features and a 12-court pickleball complex in concept plans.

On costs, Luther said the county canceled one bid for a splash pad and that updated pricing places a small pad in the roughly $600,000–$700,000 range. He described some reactive maintenance prompted by heavy rains this year (trail washouts, lost boardwalk segments) and noted staff are balancing planned construction with unplanned repairs.

Board members praised staff work and asked for updates on specific items. One board member asked about the turf seams at Katie’s playground; Luther said the installer failed to seam the artificial turf correctly and the county is working with contractor and subcontractor to replace it. A second board member asked about invasive plants; Luther said staff increasingly specify native species for projects and plan interpretation signage at native-biofilter sites such as Beulah.

Luther closed by thanking the board for funding and support; he said many projects are funded through a mix of Dominion-consent-order dollars, previously approved bond dollars and routine operations funding, and that several project timelines depend on forthcoming appropriations, consultant recommendations and permitting timelines.